Amber Sword

Those are three Flame Gates, no one knows their significance better than him. No, there is one person who might understand as well as he does. Wood stared at the other, not understanding why this young man knew so much confidential information.

As soon as Brand spoke, the Northern Nobles erupted:

"Is this guy trying to shirk responsibility?"

"Lord Priest, if he can’t make a guarantee, what’s the point of us launching a death charge against the demons here? It’s like we’re fools."

"Is this just Princess trying to deplete the strength of our allies?"

"Better to hold our defenses and wait for support, the Flame Temple won’t ignore us."

On the other side of the Crystal Ball, Princess Griffine also grabbed Brand’s sleeve. She looked a bit angry at him, asking, "Mr. Brand, you said we should act according to the situation."

"They are demons, Princess."

"I know, but there’s no need to take unnecessary risks," the Princess struggled to suppress her anger, "Mr. Brand, we will eventually defeat them! I don’t support your personal heroism, though romantic, it is not the right approach!"

Brand sighed, reaching out to gently smooth the chaotic locks on the Princess’s forehead. This action left everyone around dumbfounded. Even the elder princess herself froze, but Brand did not care. To be honest, he wasn’t sure if he could return alive from this venture.

The moment he made the decision, he knew what kind of battle lay ahead.

"Have you seen a real Demon Army, Princess?" he softly asked.

...

"Have you seen a real Demon Army, you bunch of fools." Wood slowly turned back, anyone could hear the anger brewing in the Great Priest’s tone. The Northern Nobles were arrogant, but even they had to bow before the Flame Temple, everyone fell silent in an instant.

"Demons are the mortal enemies of Order and civilization, Princess; they are unruly, not subordinates of the Dragon of Dusk, yet born from Chaos. Born to tear everything apart, all things beautiful and worth cherishing are their enemies. And their pleasure is founded upon the pain and despair of mortals."

"The Temple opposes the cultists not to suppress dissenting voices. Those who adhere to the Twilight, the cultists of Chaos, their faith is to tear this world apart so that our world ceases to exist. However, today, certain individuals present here, certain nobles who ought to guide the people—have ignorantly overlooked this point, which is regrettable."

"Does anyone remember the demon calamity in the Four Border Wilds, when demons poured out from the opened Teleportation Gates and destroyed everything, an entire kingdom, nearly all life completely vanished. Who saved them? No one. Even the Temple could not. Princess, have you seen the demons walk upon the Earth, the flames of sulfur burning everything behind them?"

"I have seen it, back when I was not yet a high-level priest of the Temple. Millions of demons descended upon this world, and the Temple took ten years of effort to finally drive them back to the River of Sulfur."

"Today, Erune is facing the same fate."

"Back then, on the border of Antobro, it was merely a fissure that opened. And today, there are three whole Teleportation Gates." Wood spoke quietly, unafraid to leak the Temple’s secrets, because if today’s matter cannot be resolved, his political life will be completely ruined, and he will become a sinner.

More importantly, the reputation of the Flame Temple will suffer unimaginable damage.

On the other side, Brand paused and decided to reveal the truth: "Princess, Erune will become scorched earth. Though someday we may be able to rebuild it, isn’t there still a glimmer of chance now?"

Here are millions of lives, which might have nothing to do with him. He won’t witness them enduring torment amidst the flames, nor see them dying painfully, not even hear their cries before death.

Everything seems irrelevant to him; he can still orderly implement his plan and reshape this ancient kingdom on the wasteland.

At least Valhalla remains, doesn’t it?

Perhaps. But Brand cannot convince himself to ignore, he can tell himself he did not see it all, but cannot deceive the innermost feelings.

Everyone is always trying to escape, but everyone has a most genuine self inside, telling them—what’s right, what’s wrong.

No one is born a hero, but now at least you can fight. Like he who has been through everything understands, there is only one thing in this world that cannot be compensated.

That is regret.

The Princess stared at him dazedly.

"Mr. Brand, you..."

"Princess, you said you believed in me."

"You..." Princess Griffine bit her lip, struggled a bit, but eventually released her hand: "Okay, I understand..."

Brand nodded at her, then he turned back, looking at the image of Wood the Chief Priest on the Crystal Ball. "Looks like we’ve reached a consensus, congratulations, Lord Priest."

Wood nodded, but sighed slightly in his heart. The Great Priest couldn’t help lowering his eyelids slightly: indeed, the actions have been too reckless, perhaps he shouldn’t have allowed it all to happen from the beginning.

"May the Lord Martha above still bless us, hope Erune’s fate isn’t over." He has never wished so fervently for Erune to continue existing—even today, this may be the day he hopes most deeply for this country’s survival as a Cruz person, as a Great Priest of the Temple.

Brand also smiled: "Yes, hopefully the Flame Temple hasn’t contradicted ancestor King Gilte’s will too much; otherwise it would be too undeserved for me to be implicated, wouldn’t it—"

Wood hummed quietly.

...

(PS: While coding, suddenly Faro killed the pig, and upon finishing coding found the connection dropped! Can’t go online now! H pig, come and face your fate!)(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)